It’s Started the poll of the year: Vote the best indie soccer game of 2006! Vote the best Old-school Football game of the year here: The best old-school soccer games of the year

Sensible Soccer 2006

http://www.kickoffworld.net/blog/sensible-soccer-2006/

Jon Hare, designer and producer of the original Sensible Soccer series, here collaborates with Codemasters and developers Kuju Entertainment for the return of the long-standing soccer series. This revival plays up the fast action and wild multiplayer of the original series, now with 3D visuals and new aggressive new arcade-style gameplay.

Throw in

http://www.kickoffworld.net/blog/throw-in

Throw In is the tribute to the best game ever, Kick Off 2. It’s developed by Gianluca Troiano, the 2003, 2004, 2005 Kick Off 2 World Champion. Throw in attempt to reproduce the classic gameplay of Kick Off 2 and is designed to offer fast action with responsive controls. You can do anything on the pitch with just a single fire button.

Yoda Soccer

http://www.kickoffworld.net/blog/yoda-soccer-73-released/

The Open Source clone of Sensible World of Soccer is available for all OS: Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. It’s developed by an italian team of coders to reproduce the playability of the classic Sensible World of Soccer.

www.kickoffworld.net/blog/pulp-of-soccer/

The vocation of Pulp Of Soccer is to procure a lot of sensations for everybody who like funny video games and soccer, purposing easy but efficacious gameplay. Pulp Of Soccer is an original concept purposing intuitive gameplay accessible to everybody

New Star Soccer 3

http://www.kickoffworld.net/blog/new-star-soccer-3/
New Star Soccer 3 is the award winning career football game that lets YOU be the star player. Take full control of your career and work your way to the top. Defender, midfielder or attacker, the choice is yours, just make sure you keep the boss, fans and everyone else happy on your rise to football stardom!

Netsoccer

http://www.kickoffworld.net/blog/netsoccer
Netsoccer is a Multiplayer Online Soccer game. Each gamer controls a player, not a team as is common in most Soccer games. You can join different teams and have matches aginst other teams or you can just have a practice match online.
Sensational Soccer

www.kickoffworld.net/blog/sensational-soccer-released/>

Sensational Soccer is a New game made by the same creator of New Star Soccer 3. The match engine of Sensational Soccer is the same as New Star Soccer 3 (updated a bit though). The tactics editor is complete, and available on a Sensible Soccer style with a 2-player football game where you control the whole team

Webchamps 06

http://www.kickoffworld.net/blog/webchamps-06

In webchamps06 you play with your team against a variety of computer-controlled teams. webchamps06 doesn’t only convert the fascination of football into a clever online game and give us a virtual foretaste of the World Cup atmosphere.

Kickin’ Soccer

www.kickoffworld.net/blog/kickin-soccer/
Kickin’ Soccer is a fast-paced arcade soccer game. Dribble the opponent players, slide into their defenses with quick and accurate passing, score with shoots from a distance or use crosses and try to head the ball in the back of the net.

Pixelkick

www.kickoffworld.net/blog/pixelkick/>
pixelKick takes all the best elements from the classic footie games from the 90’s and is set in it’s own primary coloured, pixel playground world.

pixelKick is a game which captures all the excitement of a real football match and conveys it through 16×16 blocks.

Slam Soccer 2006

www.kickoffworld.net/blog/slam-soccer-2006/>
Slam Soccer 2006 is a funny football game in 3D-comic-style - it’s Freeware and open source with Funny 3d-comic-style

Addictive Football

http://www.kickoffworld.net/blog/addictive-football

Addictive Football is similar in style to the great games of yesteryear such as Sensible Soccer and Kick Off. Play 5-a-side rules on a variety of different pitches with 5 different game modes to choose from. Including Knockout Cups and League style games as well as a Custom Game Mode where you set the team skills yourself.

Nutella Football Game

http://www.kickoffworld.net/blog/nutella-football-game

Nutella Football Game is the soccer videogame created by gianluca troiano and Artematica, it was sold on italian big malls as a promotional gift together with a can of Nutella during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Goofy Soccer

www.kickoffworld.net/wikickoff/index.php?title=Goofy_Soccer

This game is designed to develop the creative skills of soccer gamers. Now it’s time to get the best soccer game that can reflect your creativity. Choose your team and league from the wide databases freely distributed or create your own league.

Technorati Tags: Sensible Soccer 2006, Throw in, Yoda Soccer, Pulp of Soccer, New Star Soccer 3, Netsoccer, Sensational Soccer, Webchamps 06, Kickin’ Soccer, Pixelkick, Slam Soccer 2006, Addictive Football, Nutella Football Game, Goofy Soccer, football games, soccer games

12 september is a free Flash game where players try to solve the terrorist problem - a sort of editorial cartoon rendered in simple simulation.

September 12 is the first game with a non entertainment goal from Powerful Robot Games, based in Uruguay. Powerful Robot is run by Gonzalo Frasca (of ludology.org), who has been studying the social implications of games for years; now he’s finally glad to be using game design to trigger discussions: “It was the first game we made where every design decision was hell. Do people cry over dead terrorists?”

“The art is fantastic in September 12, the sound is critical (play with your speakers turned on). Frasca is eager to use video games to provoke political and ethical discussions. September 12 is a witty little thing - we look forward to more like it from the folks at newsgaming.com.”

Play now

Technorati Tags: middle east, palestine, lebanon, israel, iraq, free game, flash, september 12, terrorism, terrorist, war, september 11

Tackles, headers, brilliant passes and goals. Now you can experience all this in an online flash game.

In webchamps06 you play with your team against a variety of computer-controlled teams.

webchamps06 doesn’t only convert the fascination of football into a clever online game and give us a virtual foretaste of the World Cup atmosphere.

webchamps06 allows ten full eleven a side FIFA teams to play against each other. It doesn’t cost anything to play and you can log on to the game via a link on the kickoffworld website. The game is currently available in English, German, French and Italian versions and there is also an offline version of the virtual game.

The game is played on exactly the same rules as real football. The only exception is the offside rule, which you don’t need to bother about because it doesn’t figure in the game.

OK?
Then let’s go!

Here How to play

Technorati Tags: Webchamps, soccer game, flash game, free game, online game

The Open Source clone of Sensible World of Soccer has some important new features:

- bench: substitutions, players swapping and tactics switch
- coach only mode
- input device selector
- template database

Download available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux: Yoda Soccer

Enjoy it!

Technorati Tags: yoda soccer, football game, soccer game

A really Insane Japanese game. Try it now

read more | digg story

Nutella Football Game is the soccer videogame created by gianluca troiano and Artematica, it was sold on italian big malls as a promotional gift together with a can of Nutella during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Now the full version is available for download, for free, also the promotional video is now available on youtube here:

Download Nutella Football Game

Why the Bizarre Creations “Geometry Wars” was so acclaimed?? An unique mixture of Basic and addictive gameplay with retro-taste and vector graphics! This exclusive Xbox Live Arcade game gives you both the original Retro action and a new Evolved mode, which combines modern graphics with old-school fun.
So you don’t own an XBox 360 with live Arcade?? No problem, stop at here and try all the best clone available for free by indie developers, for PC Windows, Mac OS X, Linux. All the games mentioned in this article bears some semblance to acient Vector games and Geometry Wars.

Grid Wars

Probably the most popular Geometry Wars clone, partly due to the fact that it’s free and playable on at least two platforms. The dual analog controls work well, but players without a joypad can play using a combination of mouse and keyboard. No levels, but the difficulty increases slowly with the addition of new types of enemies. A black hole appears from time to time, which you can use to your advantage since it sucks everything into it. Blow it up, and the amount of points you earned depends on how many objects were drawn into the dark matter. This particular technique called black hole harvesting is a heated discussion among many fans of Mark Incitti’s shooter.

Most power-ups upgrade your shots or gives you a temporary shield, while bombs can be used to clear the entire screen. The game has gone through many revisions and what we have is the final version, plus it’s unlikely to be updated since the author has moved on to other projects.

Name: Grid Wars
Developer: Mark Incitti
Type: Freeware
Platform: PC, Mac
Size: 3.3MB
Online High Score: No
Geometry Wars-like scale: 8/10
Rating: 9
Download page: http://www.incitti.com/Blitz/
Alternate download page (working):
http://worldofstuart.excellentcontent.com/grid/wars.htm

Rainbow Wars

A side project from Volition designer Luke Schneider, part of the team responsible for the development of the Descent series. The background is practically empty, but destroying enemy ships will cause glowing particles to appear on screen. Bombs only appear as a power-up item, and is activated on the spot when collected. A power-up item will appear for every five thousand points earned which includes a black hole that only sucks in enemy ships.

Your ship is equipped with three layers of shield, and you lose one whenever an enemy ship touches yours. Destroying each wave of enemies will increase the level number by one, also replenishing your shields automatically. Losing all your shields ends the game, but you can continue from the last level attempted by selecting it at the main menu. Note that the easy difficulty will only allow access to the first ten waves.

Your ship also has the ability to warp and charge it’s shot. Tap the left shoulder button on your gamepad to teleport, and hold the right shoulder button to prepare for a special attack. It’s interesting to note that Rainbow Wars is an effort made with Game Maker in only thirty hours.

Name: Rainbow Wars
Developer: Luke Schneider
Type: Freeware
Platform: PC
Size: 2.2MB
Online High Score: No
Geometry Wars-like scale: 7/10
Rating: 8
Download page: http://www.volition-inc.com/Staff/LukeSchnieder
(click on design ideas to download)

Veck

(Watch the gameplay video on YouTube!)

Veck was originally a competition entry for the Retro Remakes vector competition, which it won by garnering more than half of the votes submitted even though there were nine other entries. The level number increases for each minute that your ship remains intact, up to fifteen. Then the game loops back to the first wave but your score remains.

Weapon upgrade is automatic as well, bestowing the ability to shoot more bullets whenever the minute counter changes. No lives or shields, instead health is measured by energy which increments slowly but depletes if a collision with another object occurs.

Has the distinction of most bullets fired by your ship among all the games mentioned. The soundtrack is great as well, generating plenty of adrenaline rush as it reaches a crescendo. Full screen can only be enabled using a command line parameter, stated in a text file that comes with the zip package. For users with no gamepad, the mouse is not part of the control option although directional firing is still possible by mapping four other keys in addition to the standard movement.

Name: Veck
Developer: smayds
Type: Freeware
Platform: PC
Size: 2.4MB
Online High Score: No
Geometry Wars-like scale: 7/10
Rating: 9
Download page: http://smayds.googlepages.com/games

Bullet Candy

Bullet Candy is more like Robotron: 2084 than Geometry Wars, although the inclusion of dual analog controls make it a worthwhile inclusion into this list. You control a ship stuck in space much like the others, but enemies are able to shoot at you in many different ways. Lives can be earned either by collecting red power-ups or scoring 100,000 points.

Power-ups include lasers, triple shots and temporary invincibility. Bullet Candy includes a survival mode and an Asteroid Belt game, plus some secrets as well. Only fifty levels in the normal mode although most are designed to offer different challenges. For players without the luxury of a gamepad, the standard mouse and keyboard control combination can be used.

Name: Bullet Candy
Developer: Charlies Games
Type: Demo
Platform: PC, Mac
Size: 8.2MB
Online High Score: Yes
Geometry Wars-like scale: 3/10
Rating: 8
Download page: http://temp.macdock.com/charliesgames/index.html

RetroBlast

RetroBlast uses vector shapes for objects and enemies, much like Geometry Wars but that’s where the similarities end. Only mouse control is available, and players used to a dual analog gamepad will be disappointed with this effort. To shoot at an enemy, your ship must first be rotated to face it by using the left or right mouse button to turn. Bombs can be used to clear the screen.

The full version features a hundred levels but only the first eighteen can be accessed in the demo.

Name: RetroBlast
Developer: JGOware
Type: Demo
Platform: PC
Size: 2.8MB
Online High Score: Yes
Geometry Wars-like scale: 5/10
Rating: 5
Download page: http://jgoware.com/retroblast.htm

HGEWars

HGEWars is a work in progress by Yuriy O’Donnell, and there is still plenty of development to be done although it’s been around longer than any of the other Geometry Wars clones. The rating should not be taken seriously since scores are not based on the final version. Some fiddling with the ini file is required for the gamepad to work.

Weapon upgrade is automatic. The gameplay is quite faithful to the original but it may be months before the final version is released.

Name: HGEWars
Developer: Yuriy O’Donnell
Type: Freeware
Platform: PC
Size: 0.3MB
Online High Score: No
Geometry Wars-like scale: 7/10
Rating: 3
Download page: http://yurka.org/gamedev/

Mu-cade

Using vector shapes for shmups is practically a Kenta Cho hallmark, but the celebrated Japanese developer had been toying around with dual analog controls since Gunroar. A combination of both Robotron: 2084 and Snake, your objective is to stay on the rectangular platform and knock other enemies off it by shooting at them repeatedly.

For each enemy pushed off the platform, the tail of your ship grows longer and the score multiplier increases. A longer tail does complicate matters a little as it gets harder to stay on the platform. If the tail of your ship is over the edge, the weight will drag the rest of the ship with it as well.

Fortunately players only need to worry about the front portion of the ship. The tail itself can be blown apart in exchange for a short burst of additional firepower. You will lose the multiplier in the process though.

It gets increasingly harder to stay on the platform as time passes, but an extra life is awarded for every 200,000 points earned.

Name: Mu-cade
Developer: Kenta Cho
Type: Freeware
Platform: PC
Size: 6.02MB
Online High Score: No
Geometry Wars-like scale: 2/10
Rating: 7
Download page: http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cs8k-cyu/windows/mcd_e.html

Base 2

Base 2 is a game that plays more like Every Extend than anything else. The player controls a bit with the mouse, using the left button to activate the shield. Coming in contact with enemy ships when your shield is up will cause them to explode.

Some enemies are too large to eliminate in this manner, so your only option is to maneuver around them carefully. The green bar at the top of the screen indicates the amount of energy you currently have, and will depreciate whenever your bit touches an enemy ship with the shields down. Some energy is lost regardless of shield status when collision with large enemies could not be avoided.

Pressing the right mouse button activates the freeze bomb, which freezes all enemies on-screen momentarily. Extra lives can be earned by destroying enemies of the same color in a row, using a process called linking. Multipliers are awarded for long links.

The screen tilt can be rather helpful or distracting to players, depending on their preferences. A higher score would have been awarded if the toggle option was available from the main menu.

Name: Base 2
Developer: SimSimGames
Type: Freeware
Platform: PC
Size: 6.02MB
Online High Score: No
Geometry Wars-like scale: 2/10
Rating: 5
Download page: http://www.simsimgames.co.uk/

Mono

Mono is a shooter from Binary Zoo that uses Robotron 2084-style controls, where the aim of the game is to change the color of the entire screen from black to white or white to black. Enemies will leave a splash of color on the playing field when destroyed, and the behavior of a hostile unit will change depending on the patch of color that they traverse on.

Power-ups can be collected replenish energy, shields, or radically alter your ship’s firepower, although they only lasts ten seconds. Playing this game can be disorienting after a while because of the bright colors used.

Name: Mono
Developer: Binary Zoo
Type: Freeware
Platform: PC
Size: 5.5MB
Online High Score: No
Geometry Wars-like scale: 3/10
Rating: 5
Download page: http://www.binaryzoo.com/games/mono/

Mutant Storm

Mutant Storm is an arena shooter developed by PomPom Games, in which you control a ship equipped with directional firing much like Geometry Wars. Instead of vector shapes, most of the objects in the game are represented in 3D.

It’s quite unfortunate that your progress is only saved every ten levels, leaving most users replaying the same stages just to arrive at a save point.

Name: Mutant Storm
Developer: PomPom Games
Type: Demo
Platform: PC, Mac, Linux
Size: 4.3MB
Online High Score: Yes
Geometry Wars-like scale: 6/10
Rating: 7
Download page: http://www.pompomgames.com/mutantstorm.htm

Vector Infector

Vector Infector is another release by Oddbob that resembles Geometry Wars, featuring fifty rooms filled with geometric shapes bent on your ship’s destruction.

There are some notable differences when comparing this version with the console hit. For example, the only way to power up your weapon’s attack strength is by collecting gems that vanquished enemies leave behind. The game also has a wrap around playing field, where sprites that go over the edge of the screen will appear on the other side.

Two control options are made available to the player. Pressing the Z key will cause your ship to fire in the direction it is currently facing. Shots can also be directed by using W, A, S and D keys. Looks very promising even if it’s still in early development stages.

Name: Vector Infector
Developer: Oddbob
Type: Demo
Platform: PC
Size: 15.0MB
Online High Score: No
Geometry Wars-like scale: 7/10
Rating: 5
Direct download link: http://www.merseyremakes.co.uk/previews/testbuild8thJan.exe

Some notables which uses dual analog or features vector shapes that did not make the list (for various reasons), but very playable nonetheless.

Technorati Tags: Grid Wars, Rainbow Wars, Veck, Bullet Candy, RetroBlast, HGEWars, Grid Assault, Mu-cade, Base 2, Mono, Mutant Storm, Vector Infector, Geometry Wars, OS X, Mac, Linux, free, games, XBox 360, Live Arcade

Grid Assault is a faithful clone of the old vector games and expecially of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved from the Xbox360.

Gameplay:
Try to stay alive Robotron style, while you are attacked by hundreds of enemies.
The game features neon-like vector graphics, custom music, dazzling particles, full 360 degrees movement and fire directions and FAST gameplay! It is best to play the game with a dual analog gamepad, but keyboard/mouse controls are provided.

NOTE: The game is timed and will stop after 6 minutes of gameplay.

Availability:
You can get the game from the showcase at shmup-dev.com. Read the readme.txt in the archive for details.

Technorati Tags: grid assault, vector game, geometry wars, retro, evolved

Turbo Tanks is completely addicting shooting game fun inspired by an old game called Armor attack and also available for Vectrex, a vector graphics console! .

Turbo Tanks is great tank fighting fun featuring excellent computer AI. Can you get all the way to level 15 and defeat two enemy tanks at a time?

Top-view shoot-out. Succinctly summarised up by “It’s fun!”, this is a 1- or 2-player tank battle for anyone who still hasn’t quite got the hang of all those complicated “Rope” controls in Tank Mania.

So, there are only ever two tanks on the screen, but there’s a range of different battlefields made all the more intriguing by the fact that you can bounce your bullets off the walls. The retro graphics are spot-on, the computer’s a surprisingly tough opponent, and the sound effects minimal enough that you can play your favourite military music CDs (or anti-war protest songs) in the background.

Controls: Arrow keys to steer, Ctrl (or Enter) to fire (player one), A, D, W, S to steer, Shift to fire (player two).
Tips & hints: You can take about 10 hits (indicated by the health which counts down from 100), so it’s always worth firing off the maximum 5 bullets (the blobs above the numbers) if you’ve lined up a decent shot.

Build up your bonus lives by taking as few hits from enemy tanks as possible.

Find a good position to take enemy tanks out from. Do not stand still, keep your tank mobile within that good position. Abandon a position if overwhelmed. Move forward when firing and then reverse away after firing when appropriate.

Keep constant fire to keep the enemy off balance. When you fire, turn your tank slightly while letting a volley 5 shots to get a wide range and maximum chance of a hit. The computer tanks can’t as easily avoid a wide volley of shots.

Use angle shots to your advantage. Try to trap enemy tanks in bad positions where shots will richochet all about them and take many hits.

Play now online: http://www.turbotanks.com/

Play also offline: Download Turbo Tanks (windows only)

Technorati Tags: turbo tanks, web game, java game, old school, game, vector, black, white

A nice interpretation of the classic Table Top Football, we all - well, most of us anyway, enjoyed when we were kids (and still do, really) (in the days before high end computing - the days when kids got dirty, climbed in trees, knew how to ride bikes without helmets and when wounded arms and knees were part of the day; Not that this has anything to do with computers, really ..) and I remember, when we played our hand were sweaty, the handles on fire and the poor ball dangerously kamikazing from one end of the table to the other. Not much tactics from either side, but very intense and fun. This net version does not deliver the same atmosphere, but very fun and addictive, nevertheless.

Try it.

http://www.carling.com/football/entertainment/table_top_football/

Technorati Tags: table top football, table football, carling, football game, soccer game